Source: Radio New Zealand
Hutt City Council has sought assurances from Wellington Water over its Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant (pictured) after the catastrophic failure at Moa Point. RNZ / REECE BAKER
Hutt City Council wants assurance that its own sea-side sewage treatment plant will not suffer the same disastrous failure as Wellington’s Moa Point plant.
It has asked Wellington Water whether the Seaview plant, near Petone, has the same equipment as Moa Point which flooded a room the size of an Olympic swimming pool 3-metres deep with sewage on 4 February.
The facility has been sending tens of millions of litres of raw sewage into Cook Strait each day since and an independent inquiry into the failure has been signalled from central government and Wellington City Council.
For years the Lower Hutt Seaview sewage plant has been an issue for locals particularly due to its odour, with it being reported in January 2024 that $40,000 worth of fines were dished out to the facility’s owners.
A week after the Moa Point failure Hutt City Council chief executive Jo Millar penned a letter to Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty which requested the pair to meet.
Millar wanted to know how frequently the Seaview Wastewater Treatment plant and its 17-kilometre sewage outfall pipe were being inspected and monitored.
She also wanted Wellington Water to explain the processes it undertook to verify that Veolia’s maintenance and operational obligations were being met.
The council head also asked if similar equipment to Moa Point had been installed at Seaview in recent years, what that would be and whether it held any responsibility for what had happened at Moa Point.
She called for Wellington Water to outline its and Veolia’s plan if a similar failure happened.
“Including if this would lead to additional discharges into the Waiwhetū Stream and if an environmental assessment has been done on this including addressing the scale of any event.”
Hutt City Council told RNZ that the information had not yet been provided but a meeting between the two leaders was scheduled.
“Once council has received that briefing, elected members will be briefed, and we will then be in a position to respond further.”
It could not say when that meeting would be.
A Wellington Water spokesperson told RNZ it was entirely appropriate for Hutt City Council to request these assurances from the water company – particularly following an incident of the magnitude of Moa Point.
“Wellington Water welcomes the opportunity to engage with the council on this matter.”
Veolia referred RNZ to Wellington Water for comment.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
